Sound alliance: BuzzAngle and Shazam

Analytics firm BuzzAngle Music is integrating global data from Shazam, one of the world’s most popular apps. The agreement is a coup for BuzzAngle Music, marking the first time Shazam data is available in a comprehensive analytics platform. The data provided from Shazam includes the number of Shazams for every song within a given market and country, as well as further breakdowns for age, gender and information regarding user engagement with the track pages.

The importance and value of the Shazam data to BuzzAngle’s users will be in the ability to view the number of Shazams alongside existing consumption data—such as song sales, song streams and song airplay—in all charts, reports and dashboards. The Shazam data is available immediately as a premium upgrade option within the standard BuzzAngle Music service.

“Shazam has been downloaded over 1 billion times and people around the globe are Shazaming 20 million times each day,” Shazam head of music data services Richard Westover said. “Our proprietary data is an unparalleled asset for the industry and in artists’ strategies. We are very excited to be part of BuzzAngle’s  advanced platform and help their analytics be even more comprehensive.”

Jim Lidestri, CEO of BuzzAngle parent company Border City Media.

Jim Lidestri, CEO of BuzzAngle Music parent Border City Media called it “a first for the music industry.” Founded in 2012, the Westchester County, NY-based Border City began tracking data with BuzzAngle in 2015, and considered something of a feisty startup in a space that includes monoliths like Nielsen’s SoundScan.

Since its official launch in May 2016, BuzzAngle has been pushing the envelope, notably as the first to offer daily updates. It has also taken pains to institute its data tracking on a global basis, The company’s innovative dashboard allows users to create individualized reports on a daily basis, and in multiple countries. “We are the first to show streaming data at a market level, and to track both major and independent label and distributor market share based on streaming and total consumption,” Lidestri said.

BuzzAngle methodology allows for more than 10 trillion combinations of individualized reports for albums, songs, artists, labels and distributors. The Shazam data alongside consumption statistics “will provide even greater insight into the discovery and popularity growth of songs,” Lidestri added.

BuzzAngle client Tom Poleman, chief programming officer at iHeartMedia, lauded the alliance. “Programming has always been a balance of science and art,” Poleman said. “The data available at our fingertips is increasingly more sophisticated thanks to BuzzAngle. Having this Shazam data will make it even more powerful.”

Shazam is a globally distributed music app that helps consumer discover new music by identifying songs based on audio patterns. It has built on that core functionality, allowing fans to share, stream and aggregate music. Within the past year it has introduced visual recognition and augmented reality features, and through third-party partnerships it also makes available videos, lyrics and recommendations. There are also nearly 9,000 verified artists on Shazam sharing content with followers.

Music consumption, measured by streaming and multiple sales configurations, has become increasingly complicated to track, Lidestri noted, underscoring the need for a sophisticated, real-time tool like BuzzAngle Music, which “provides countless sorting options,” such as daily album and song sales, streaming activity, and radio airplay, all of which can be broken out market by market. He said decisions about marketing, promotion and touring can all benefit from having BuzzAngle analytics.

The driving forces of consumption are the underpinnings of the music business,  and label staff and station program directors are tapping BuzzAngle to determine what songs are truly taking hold in a particular market, and to identify which new artists are taking hold in a particular region, explained Lidestri, who prior to founding Border City Media was president and CEO of Interliant, Inc., a hosting and Internet application service provider and was also CEO at marketing solutions firm AdSoft.

Shazam in October teamed with Portland startup Vadio to integrate music videos.